Intel unveiled Light Peak at the IDF, a new optical interconnect for mobile devices that can run as fast as 10Gbps, with the potential to scale to 100Gbps over the next decade. The chip giant said this transfer speed can be maintained at distances of up to 100 meter.

Perlmutter demonstrated a new high-speed optical cable technology ready by next year to connect mainstream electronic devices such as laptops, HD displays, cameras, video players, iPods, docking stations and solid-state drives (SSDs) to each other using optical fiber rather than copper wires, paving the way for a new generation of extreme input and output (I/O) performance. Developed by Intel and codenamed "Light Peak," this proposed technology will spawn a new generation of extreme computer I/O performance, delivering 10Gb/s of bandwidth, with the potential ability to scale to 100Gb/s over the next decade. At 10Gb/s, a user could transfer a full-length Blu-ray movie in less than 30 seconds. The company intends to work with the industry to determine the best way to make this new technology a broadly available standard.